Scars For Life
by princess-j3ss
Summary: [MirSan Present Day AU.] When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Sango Himura, a freelance hitwoman is hired as a double agent to simultaneously guard and take out Miroku Miyamoto. Trouble is, he's not quite the villain she was led to believe. Someone's getting a lesson in how to tell where allegiances truly lie. (Cover art done by the wonderful evartandadam on Tumblr!)
1. Another One Bites the Dust

**Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, hold the surprised gasps. I also know that this idea isn't original at all, it's something that has been done a thousand times over and a thousand times again, but it's something I've always wanted to do, so here we have it!**

 **Rating: M just to be safe, mostly for violence but also saucy language and adult situations. Take that as you will.**

* * *

 **Another One Bites The Dust**

Sango Himura inhaled deeply, pressing herself further back against the cold concrete wall, letting the cool that crept through her shirt ground her. Any moment, now, the man she was waiting for would turn around the corner, and she would have to kick herself into high gear. It wasn't as if she weren't used to taking missions such as these, in fact, she'd been taking jobs on her own since the day she turned sixteen. The big difference with this particular mission, however, was that she didn't normally get hired to take out humans, and it wasn't often that she worked in a team.

As a freelancer, she was usually hired to get rid of pesky, persistent demons who threatened the natural state of the world order. Humans and demons could coexist just fine, side by side. In fact, it had taken hundreds of years for humans and demons to get to the relatively peaceful place they were at. So, whenever someone started to rock the boat, they had to be dealt with. That's where Sango came in. Typically, ruckus was caused by lesser demons who wanted to make something of themselves, although the occasional higher powered demon would start rocking the boat, thirsty for power and prestige. In all honesty, she didn't find demons challenging. What was a challenge were the humans who though they had something to prove, the ones who wanted to eradicate demons from the planet entirely. That wasn't possible without sparking an entire, world-wide war, which was why they had to keep the peace.

At least, that's what she told herself so that she could sleep at night.

Still, she tried to do research enough into the jobs she took, so that she knew she _actually_ was helping to keep the peace, instead of blindly taking any job she was offered. But Lord only knew she could use the money.

Her line of work may not have been conventional, but Sango was proud of what she did. In fact, it was a family legacy; her father had been an assassin – she loathed the term 'hitman' – and his father before him. In feudal times, they had called themselves demon slayers, but in more modern times, demons weren't the only ones who could radiate evil and that needed to be dealt with. She and her brother had been trained to carry on the family legacy, and with each passing day, the need for freelancers became greater and greater. Not to mention, she was _good_ at what she did, operating quietly, efficiently and, thus far, without incident.

She could work with others, certainly, but she hadn't taken a mission with a group in ages, and she felt a little strange knowing that there were others in the alleyway, hidden just as she was, watching. Waiting.

Strangers, all united for the same cause.

Within a few moments of her stakeout, Sango heard the telltale sound of footsteps on pavement, and she tensed, leaning forward into a half crouch, so she could survey the alleyway without being seen by her target. It was a deserted, dodgy neighborhood, and she figured that no one would bat an eyelash at the sound of a gunshot, which gave her the luxury to use one of her guns as opposed to other measures, though one could still never be too careful. Get in, get out, as quickly, efficiently, and silently as possible.

Tightening her grip on her handgun, she leaned around the corner, just a hair, clicking the safety off as inaudibly as possible, and as soon as her target was in view, she aimed, exhaled, and pulled the trigger. She had spent years perfecting her aim, and she was nothing short of a perfect shot. The gunshot echoed off the brick walls, one loud crack, and she stilled, holding her breath, preparing for the worst if she were to hear footsteps, or worse, police sirens. It was a perfect shot, of course, right through the heart, and the man had slumped to the ground without making a sound.

When no sounds of help came, she slid out of her hiding spot, and as silently as she could, crept over to the man. At once, she was joined by three other men, two who had essentially been the lookouts, and one who had been charged with herding the man to where Sango had been waiting. At a close distance, she could see that the mans hair was black, and flecked with speckles of grey. His eyes were a deep shade of brown, and they might have been lovely if they still had life in them. Leaning down, she closed them, feeling a quick pang of guilt before she reminded herself that it was for the greater good. The cleanup was her least favourite part of the job, but it had to be done.

"We still clear?" Sango muttered under her breath to the man on her left, Big Al, and he nodded. She doubted that 'Al' was actually his real name, but even she had been known to use an alias. Sometimes, it was just safer that way.

"Probably have about five minutes until someone shows up."

"He has the microchip on him, right?"

Big Al grunted, and Sango took that as a yes as he leaned over, patting the man down. He continued to rifle through the man's pockets until he produced a small rectangular object, and shoved it into his own pocket. "One rebel down..."

Sango pulled a small bottle of gasoline out of her belt, and a Zippo lighter out of her pocket. Covering a much of the man as she could in the liquid, she took a few steps back, flicked the lighter until the flame caught, and tossed it at the man. The fire caught immediately, and she took another step back. Quickly, she pulled off her gloves, tossed them into the inferno, and then turned away so she could get out of there as quickly as possible. She made she that the bullet was untraceable, no fingerprints left, so if anything did go awry, it would be very, very difficult to link her to this.

"You made real quick work of that." One of the other men, Masaru commented, flanking her left, and Sango turned to give him a wry look at the undertone of admiration in his voice.

"She's a perfect shot, too." The third man, E piped in from behind them.

"Thanks, guys."

Looking at her watch as she turned around the corner, out of the alley and into the street, her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. "God, I'm so late."

* * *

"Dad", Sango laughed, rolling her eyes at her brother, Kohaku, to let him know that their father's latest joke wasn't anything but lame.

After a quick stop in the hospital bathroom to clean the grime from herself, touch up her eyeliner, and change from her all black attire to her favourite pink dress, Sango found herself sitting in her father's room in the cancer wing of the hospital.

"Come on, you two. That was funny! Alright, how about this one? I had a dream I was a muffler last night. I woke up _exhausted_." Akio Himura grinned at his children, who both groaned.

"Dad", Kohaku shook his head, lowering his face into his hands as he tried to hide his grin.

Despite his lame attempt at 'Dad humor', Sango knew that these family visits were the highlight of both her and Kohaku's days.

Their mother had passed away years ago, so long ago that Sango could barely remember her, and she knew for Kohaku, it was even worse. She kept a picture of her mother somewhere with her at all times, but of course, that was never the same. Forgetting what your mothers laugh sounded like, forgetting what she smelled like, what her cooking tasted like was hard. Not that she ever showed it, she had to be strong, for her father, for her brother … but some days she still felt overwhelming grief, even all those years later.

It had only been six months since her father had been diagnosed with sarcoma, an aggressive, rapidly spreading cancer, and it had only taken three to incapacitate him, putting him in the hospital where he'd been ever since. Not exactly a cheap bill. Being unable to do the job that he had been conditioned to do since he was younger than Kohaku, his eighteen year old son, put him on edge, and apparently, he had turned his attentions to writing his own comedy. Not that he was doing it well. He had always been a kind man, with a sense of humor, but the sharp side he reserved for his job and training his children had since been brushed under the rug. Sango knew that he missed it but - there was only so much they could do.

If she were being honest - he was rapidly deteriorating, and it was nice to see that he still had life in him.

"Dad. Just – stop. Please, I don't think either of us can take it." Sango shook her head. He had been through two different bouts of radiation, and now he was on a medical trial for a drug that was supposedly supposed to slow down the growth of the tumours. Sango was sceptical, but her father had told her that even if the trial didn't help him, maybe it could help someone down the line. She still wasn't sure how she felt about him being a human lab rat, but she understood that he felt so useless otherwise, this was the one thing that he could still actively do. Hell, she probably would have done the same if she were in the same position.

"I've been meaning to ask, did you get your loans sorted out, Sango?" Her father turned stern, and Sango sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

"Not – exactly." The brunette still cursed herself for thinking that four years tottering away at a degree would actually help anything, especially when she knew that she would be spending her life slaying demons and corrupt humans anyway. Still, the allure of college drew her in; she had wanted to make her father proud. Now, she was left with a whack load of student debt, and having her father in the hospital quickly accumulating a mountain of bills didn't make that any easier. Times had been alright when her father was working too, but the job didn't exactly have security or sick leave, and with him down for the count, she was struggling trying to make ends meet.

"I'll figure it out; you don't have to worry Dad. I actually just finished a job this morning. It paid pretty well."

"I can seriously help get a job-" Kohaku started, but Sango turned a stern eye on him.

"Don't, not until you finish high school. You'll have lots of time to work after then." Sango paused, turning to their father. "Back me up on this one, Dad."

Akio pasued for a long moment, before he agreed. "Your sister is right, Kohaku."

It wasn't so much that Kohaku wasn't capable of balancing the two, after all, Sango had been doing solo missions since she was sixteen, but his heart wasn't in it, and she didn't want him to feel pressured. She liked to think of herself as a kind soul, despite what she did for a living, but her brother was even more gentled hearted than she was.

Sango knew that it killed her father that he couldn't be providing for his children, but this was the mess life had handed to them. There was no sense moping about it, that wouldn't do any good.

Reaching out to grab Kohaku's hand, Sango gave it a squeeze.

"We'll pull through this, you two. We're a family of fighters, after all."

They visited for a little while longer, until Kohaku and Sango both agreed they should let their father rest. After promising to visit again the next day, the two Himuras packed up their belongings, and made for the elevators.

The ride was silent for a moment, before Sango reached out and grabbed her brother's hand. Despite the fact that he was nearly a foot taller than her, he was still six years her junior, and she felt a fierce protective instinct over him. He would always be her little brother, and she hated to see him in pain. Their fathers fate was getting to him more than he wanted to let on, and above anything else, she wanted to do what she could to make sure he was okay.

Kohaku squeezed her hand back, and attempted to smile. "What do you think is going to happen, sis?"

Sango sighed. Honestly, she would have liked to know the answer to that question herself.

* * *

 **A/N:** So! Chapter one! I honestly have been working on this fic/outline for a month and a half, and I finally decided if I didn't just start posting I might never do it, and I really wanted to because I'm actually pretty excited about this. So welcome to this wild ride/crazy journey, if you happen to give this a read, thank you very much, and I hope you'll get as excited as I am about this. My ultimate goal is to work this out in a way that is 1) not super cliche 2) somewhat realistic, while still being 3) adventurous and exciting so stay tuned, pals.

I hope this isn't coming across as too out of character for Sango, but in order to set up for the main plot, it was something that needed to be done.

Anyway, if you happen to leave a review, thank you very much! I bless you with good parking karma and I hope you find a lucky penny.


	2. Welcome to the Danger Zone

**Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha but I wish that I did so I could be best friends with Kagura.**

 **Shoutout to my Feyonce, Natalie for helping me dilute this story from being super-holy-shit complicated to the right amount of complicated and listening to me talk about it for hours on end. And a super mega shoutout to the one true Queen of all, Narqueen for beta-ing this for me! On with the show!**

* * *

 **Welcome to the Danger Zone**

"Hold out your arms, Miss."

Sango grimaced, pausing for a moment before she did as she was told, sticking her arms straight out on either side of her so that they were parallel to the ground. When she'd taken the job 'interview', the last thing that she had expected was that she would get a full pat down. It was a shady business, and even when she _wasn't_ on the job, she took to carrying some sort of weapon with her.

After the man gestured at her, Sango rolled her eyes and started removing weapons from her belt, purposely ignored the knife under her skirt as she placed the rest of her arsenal on the table, meeting the guards gaze straight on without blinking. No signs of weakness, even though she felt like breaking out into a sweat. She hadn't been hit with a pang of nervousness on the job for years, but then, these weren't the conditions she normally worked under.

"I better get those back."

The guard grunted, and motioned for Sango to hold out her arms again. She rolled her eyes, but acquiesced, clearing her throat loudly when the pat down he gave her stretched on for long enough to make her uncomfortable. It was taking everything in her power to not deck him.

"Clear." The guard pulled away, scanning a key card so the door would open for her and Sango shot him a look of contempt as she brushed past him, just to make sure he knew how unimpressed she was, while also pretending she was more in control of the situation than she was.

Deals were usually done in back alleyways, or otherwise non-discrete places. Things were usually casual, leaving as little room for investigation as possible, should one arise. Sango wasn't used to taking the flashy, high profile jobs that were tossed at her every once in a blue moon. They never interested her, but after weeks of not taking no for an answer, Sango decided it would be best just to go meet with whomever wanted to hire her so badly. Her father had advised her to go into the meeting with an open mind, but she had pretty much already made up her mind that she wouldn't be taking the job. Hopefully, whoever was trying to hire her would take "No" more seriously face to face.

As soon as she stepped through the threshold, she was met by an attractive man with long, dark hair, and a strong jaw and face. The room was relatively small and empty save for a table with three chairs around it in the middle of the room. A quick scan and she took note that there was a door on the opposite side of the room, though after a scan of the ceiling she saw no other possible exits save for the door she had entered through. Her guard had already been up, but she became even more wary – in her experience, it was the attractive men you really had to look out for. The ones who thought they could charm anyone into doing their bidding - because half the time, they could. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea, after all.

"I'm so pleased that you could finally make it, Miss Himura." The man told her silkily, extending his hand for her to take.

Sango gripped his hand firmly, and gave it a sharp shake. She wouldn't allow herself to exude anything but confidence, even in her apprehension. Although it would have been a little better if her palms hadn't been sweating.

"Allow me to introduce myself. You can call me Naraku." Naraku gestured for her to take a seat, and she did, demurely crossing her legs at the ankle and folding her hands on the table in front of her while Naraku settled in across from her.

After she stared at him for a moment, he perked a brow as if amused, and leaned forward. "I suppose we should get right to it then, ah?"

Sango cleared her throat. "I don't particularly see any point beating around the bush. We both know why I'm here, I'd like for the offer to be laid out on the table."

To her surprise, her tone didn't faze him one bit, and he almost grinned at her before nodding. For a moment, he paused and she had no idea what he might have been thinking, but then he launched into his monologue. "Surely you are aware of the increasing tension between the humans and the demons currently in charge of this country."

Sango nodded, there were people out there, much like herself, who were all trying to keep the peace, trying to avoid any upheavals of the peace, because once it became more than just one or two lone stragglers, there wouldn't be much that anyone could do.

"We're an agency funded privately with the goal of keeping everyone's best interests in mind. I'm sure you've noticed how much tension has been increasing between the demon and human populations; the peace is becoming increasingly compromised. The demons are starting to feel restless, smothered. And humans are starting to feel threatened. We're trying to prevent a conflict, because I'm sure you know how disastrous that would be, should one arise. However, as much as we try to do, there will always be opposite forces pushing against us." Naraku leaned forwards onto his elbows on the table. "Have you heard of the Coalition, sweetheart?"

Sango grit her teeth at the nickname, but was determined for him not to get a rise out of her, and shook her head.

"They're a group that started out much like our humble organization here, but in these past few months, something somewhere has gotten lost. We think they're looking to get demons firmly into power."

"So they're a group of radical extremists?"

"That might be a reach, we're still unsure. We're not entirely sure what the Coalition plans on doing with the human population once they're in power, but I don't believe I need to tell you how delicate and precarious the balance is, and if anything is done to disrupt said balance, the outcome will not be favorable, for either species." Naraku locked his eyes on hers, and it was all she could do not to blink.

Unsure whether he was waiting for her to speak or not, she waited for another moment, then asked, "Where exactly do I fit in to all of this?"

For a moment, she thought Naraku was going to smile at her, as if he were amused, even though the information he was divulging was hardly entertaining. "There is a man who was witness to an event that could give the Coalition a huge leg up in their scheme. I assume you'd like to know the details?"

Sango contemplated the offer for a moment, and then shook her head. In these types of jobs, the less she knew the better. "Not particularly."

This time, Naraku's lips did curl up into a wry smile. "After close consideration, we believe that he wants the demon population to take control of the country."

"And this man – he's human?"

Naraku nodded.

That didn't surprise Sango as much as it probably should have. As much as there were the radicals in both species, there were always those certain straggler humans who wanted to get in with the demons and help bring them to power. Though she wasn't sure what those morons thought would happen once they did get into power. Some demons hatred for humans ran centuries deep, she didn't believe for a second that, no matter how much help a human was, the demons in power wouldn't immediately turn around and stab them in the back. If they were willing to throw everything off balance for a little bit of power, she wouldn't put anything past them.

"So you want me to take him out?" She wasn't entirely sure why they had to go through this formal a meeting, and was expecting a catch any second.

"Yes, but it isn't going to be as simple as your normal jobs. You see, while he isn't directly associated with the Coalition, as of yet, it has come to light that he will be given protection, in the case we decide to do something about him."

Ah. There it was.

"So you want me to be a double agent." It wasn't a question; Sango had made the jump on her own. "If he's so important to the Coalition, won't they make sure his guard isn't some freelancer?"

"We believe that the only way for success is if his killer is assigned as his bodyguard, yes." Naraku almost looked amused again, and it was all Sango could do not to scowl. "We've taken care of it, to the Coalition, you aren't some freelancer. You're a well-trained member from inside their ranks."

Sango found it a little difficult to believe that they were really always one step ahead. Her gut was telling her this was a bad idea; but still, there were a few questions nagging at her and she couldn't help but voice them.

"Okay – I see way too many flaws with this 'well thought out plan'. If I'm being hired to protect him with my life and he dies, isn't that going to look really suspicious?"

"Well, I don't suppose you'll be offered another bodyguard job in the future, but that's no skin off your nose, is it doll? We will make it look like an accident; you don't have to worry about that."

It was all she could do not to grit her teeth for the second time, but she let the pet name slide. Still, she had one final question. "And why me? Of all the assassins out there, why am I the one for the job?"

"You're the best at what you do."

The answer was so simple, it almost threw her off guard. After a moment, Sango nodded, pretending to contemplate it for a moment before she pushed her chair back and rose, placing her hands down on the table in front of her as she did so. Sometimes, she wasn't the best at being eloquent, and she tried to channel her father for a moment. "I appreciate the offer, and I hope that this doesn't burn any bridges, but I'm going to have to decline. I'm sure you can find someone else just as qualified as me."

The brunette turned, and was just about to open the door when Naraku chuckled. Despite herself, Sango turned around and scowled.

"What's so funny?"

"Of all the questions you asked, you forgot to inquire as to salary."

Oh, yeah. Right. She could humor him. "Okay, how much are you offering?"

"On top of the salary you'll be paid out by the Coalition, we're offering you fifty grand."

The room swayed and Sango was extremely grateful that she didn't fall over where she stood. "Fifty – thousand dollars? American dollars?" That could go a long way, she could make a dent in her father's hospital bills, and pay off her student loans. Or vice versa. If she was really lucky, she'd even have some left over for food and maybe a new skirt or two.

"Should you decide to accept our offer, you'll be given twenty five percent now and the rest when the job is complete." Naraku stood, and in seconds he was standing directly in front of her. With the proximity, Sango realized how tall he actually was. He towered over her, but she met his gaze, not nearly feeling as threatened as she had when she first walked through the door.

There was this feeling, right low in her gut, that taking this job was not a wise decision. There were too many 'what ifs', and she was finding it hard to trust a man to whom she was utterly expendable. Her life didn't matter to him. Her career didn't matter to him, so long as he got what he wanted. To Naraku, she was nothing but a puppet, a pawn for him to get what he wanted. And in her profession, if she didn't trust her intuition, then what did she have? If she took the job, she was a sell-out; it was as simple as that. But if she didn't take it, for that kind of money, she was a moron. The most she could make doing a job was ten grand, at the absolute top. She had her father to think about. And her brother…

Kohaku's face flashed into her mind, and Sango knew it was made up. She couldn't let her family down. She was going to do everything she could in her power to make sure that they would be okay, and right now, this was their best shot. If they couldn't pay her father's bills, who knew what would happen to him. Deep in her heart, Sango knew he probably didn't have much longer, but he definitely had no chance of survival without trained professionals. At least in the hospital, he had a fighting chance to survive.

"Naraku." Sango paused, letting out a breath that was shakier than she would have liked. "You have yourself a deal."

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, so, I hope no one is too confused, but if you are a little, have no fear because all will become clear soon enough. We'll be meeting Miroku, aka the man of the hour very soon, also.

I apologize for the delay on this chapter, the Mirosanta Christmas exchange took up most of my free writing time. BUT if you do like MirSan, I suggest going and checking everything out because everyone made some really amazing things! (You can find all the gifts at mirosanta . tumblr . com)

Thanks so much for reading, and thanks to everyone who reviewed! You make my heart happy.


	3. Don't Look Down

**Disclaimer: I disclaim all that there is to disclaim. (In other words I do this in my free time and am already in debt please don't sue me.)**

* * *

 **Don't Look Down**

Sango's palms were sweating.

It was taking all of her self-control not to start rubbing them together as she stood in the doorway and looked around the room. She wanted to exude nothing but pure confidence, but she had never felt quite like she was in enemy territory to this extent before. Here she was, completely surrounded by a group that she assumed, based on what she'd been told, wouldn't hesitate to kill her should they find out she was working as a double agent.

She was standing in the middle of a building that, on the outside, looked like normal offices, but once she had gone through the screening process, she had discovered was actually a high tech headquarters. People were bustling around her, typing away madly on computers, and otherwise ignoring her. She forced herself to take a deep breath, and relax.

It was a risky game she was playing.

Her father had shared her opinions on the job, shared her sense on unease, though he understood why she had taken it. She almost hadn't told him all the details, but once she had started talking, it had been impossible to stop. Sango knew she wouldn't be able to keep it from him, especially as it was going to go on for longer than her jobs normally did, even though she wanted to spare him from feeling like anything was his fault. The last thing he needed was to take on more to his already heavy burden. Still. She didn't keep things from him. He had advised her not to spend the advance payment she'd been given just yet, and she figured that wasn't horrible advice. Just in case something went sideways, but even just knowing the money was there made her feel better about the state of things, and she couldn't wait to start chipping away at her father's hospital bills.

It had been two weeks since her meeting, and true to his word, Naraku had gotten her into the Coalition, and it had seemed that she had passed her first test. They all believed her to be recommended in from a branch from a neighboring city, but even so, she had been put through a series of physical obstacles that all guards were given before being assigned to anyone, just to prove that they were capable. Sango had whizzed through them all, and she couldn't help but think that perhaps they should have been putting more emphasis on loyalty. She had expected to at least be put through some sort of lie detector test, but they had given her nothing, and she was assuming it was because the physical tests were one final formality.

Which worked out well enough in her favor, honestly.

A split second before it happened, Sango registered that someone was standing in her space, interrupting her thoughts, and she turned around to find herself locking eyes with a brusque looking man, with the most vibrantly golden eyes she had ever seen. For a split second she wondered if he might have been demon, but after a quick glance over, she determined that all of his other features were distinctly human.

"You might want to watch it, you're standing in the middle of the doorway", he grunted.

Sango raised her eyebrows at him, and was about to shoot back a sharp retort, but then thought better of it, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to herself, and merely stepped to the side so that he could brush past her, fixing the bandana her wore on his head and mumbling under his breath as he went.

She watched him go, eyebrows still raised, wondering why on Earth anyone would choose to wear a bandana. Maybe he had lost some sort of bet.

"Miss Nakahara."

Sango ignored the voice, and continued to look around the room, almost transfixed at the organized chaos that was taking place around her.

"Sango Nakahara!"

Oh! Right, that was her. The agency had offered to give her a new alias entirely, but she had figured taking on a new name would give her too much possibility to let things slip through the cracks, and so she had settled for a new last name instead.

"Yes." Sango turned to face the direction the voice was coming from, and she was faced with a tall, beautiful woman with long dark hair, pale skin, and red lips. She was holding a coffee cup in one hand, and had a clipboard in the other that she had perched against her hip.

"My name is Kikyo, and I've been charged with giving you your assignment. Follow me, please." Her tone was short, clipped, though not altogether unpleasant. She merely sounded like she had a lot to get done, and she wanted to see about doing all her tasks in a timely manner.

Sango nodded and followed Kikyo, who continued talking over her shoulder.

"This is all routine, really. You came so highly recommended by the Nagano branch that I'm sure none of this will be new to you. But as a refresher – protocol, you understand."

Sango nodded once again, and tried to flash Kikyo a smile that seemed convincing, and then immediately wondered if she was coming across like she was trying too hard. Trying to convince everyone she wasn't guilty when they probably didn't assume her guilt in the first place was not a tactic that was going to do her any favors.

"Your new guardee is currently at a moderately high risk, requiring 24 hour protection, and though we can't foresee for how long this kind of protection will be necessary, we've still classified him under short term protection until the situation has been taken care of, in which case we'll reevaluate and take the next precautionary steps." Kikyo paused to take a sip of her coffee without stopping, and Sango stopped mid step, expecting her to stop, and then had to do an awkward skip jog to catch back up.

"Because of this", Kikyo continued, "You'll be living in a house together, along with another of our operatives and the woman under his protection. I will advise you to remember that while this is only temporary, though we expect you to take precautions at all times."

Sango hadn't realized she had stopped and was staring at Kikyo, mouth slightly agape until the other woman turned around, perking a brow as if to demand why she had paused.

The irony that her targets biggest threat was being thrown into a house with him wasn't lost on her, but her mind was reeling with other thoughts.

This entire ordeal was going to be stressful enough – and now she was being told she was to live with three strangers whose morals were obviously questionable? Now she was going to have to keep up her facade twenty four hours a day? What was she supposed to do about Kohaku? He was barely a kid anymore, she was certain he could take care of himself in a pinch, but she wasn't sure how comfortable she felt leaving an eighteen year old to fend for himself, without any supervision, for an indefinite amount of time.

"That's not – that wasn't part of the deal", Sango protested, and then tried to backtrack slightly. "What I mean is – doesn't that put more of a target on the backs of those being protected? Putting two of them together?"

Kikyo had fully turned around now, and was regarding her with a wry look. She looked as if she were refraining very hard from being condescending. "We simply don't have the funding to provide mansions to every single guard and guardee pair who comes along. Statistically, it has been proven to be safer with two guards in a household, it lessens the burden of one guard having to be on watch at all times. Are you sure you've done this before?"

It was difficult for Sango not to turn around and walk away right there and then. She had to remind herself what she was doing it for, and felt like a complete sell out for the hundredth time. "I'm sure. Go on."

Kikyo checked her clipboard, nodding to herself as if ticking off a mental checklist, before she continued. "The name of your new charge is Miroku Miyamoto. I do believe it's time for the two of you to meet."

Sango nodded, and followed her through the corridor.

There were doors to windowless rooms all along the hallway, and after a few moments, Kikyo stopped abruptly, turned, and gestured towards one of the doors.

"I don't suppose I'll need to wish you luck?"

The question took Sango off guard for a moment, and she met Kikyo's eyes questioningly. There seemed to be no suspicion in them, though it was true, she truly was going to need every ounce of luck she could get. Instead, she forced what felt like her thousandth smile, and lied through her teeth.

"Don't worry, like you said, I've done this before."

"Get acquainted. I'll be back to collect the two of your shortly, and you'll be given a car to your new home."

Kikyo turned and strode off, but Sango was frozen, her hand on the handle, unable to move it and enter the room. It wasn't that she was scared of whomever she was supposed to be protecting (even though Naraku had made it seem like she should be, if he were that much of a threat they needed to take him out), but she still felt ridiculously uneasy about the entire deal. Her jobs were always more or less the same protocol, the same thing, over and over. This was new territory, and she wasn't entirely sure how to proceed.

Once she opened that door, there was no turning back.

There was still time to back out.

But Sango wasn't a quitter.

With a deep breath, she quickly turned the handle, and opened the door.

A tall man was standing at the other side of the room, past the table in the middle, facing away from her. He waited a moment, until he heard the door close again, until he turned around. Clearly, she wasn't what he had been expecting, because his face lit up exponentially.

His hair was almost shoulder length, but Sango noted that instead of making him look grungy, he looked quite stylish. His eyes were a warm brown, and his lashes were long enough that they cascaded a shadow on his cheeks when he blinked. If Sango hadn't already harbored such a dislike for the man, she might have though he was attractive. Handsome, even. But Naraku's words from their previous meeting were echoing in her ears.

This man was clearly dangerous, information that he carried a threat to the precarious peace that they'd been able to keep up for so many years.

Sango pursed her lips, unsure how to introduce herself, when Miroku stepped forward, grinning at her.

"Well, hello beautiful!"

She blinked, which apparently he took as an invitation to keep talking.

"Say, did it hurt?"

Sango stared at him for a moment, half sure that she knew where he was going with the question, and mentally willing him to quit while he was ahead. Eyebrows knitted together, she folded her arms across her chest and shook her head, "What?"

"When you fell from Heaven? Did it hurt? This beauty could only belong to an Angel." Miroku shot her a lopsided grin, and she really had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

"Please tell me that was a joke in real poor taste."

Apparently, that was not the response he had expected, and probably wasn't the response he was used to receiving, for even though his face betrayed no change of emotion, he changed the subject, fast.

"My apologies, I just can't but help to let a beautiful woman know how beautiful she is. The name is Miroku, by the way. Are you here to take me to my guard?" His tone was pleasant, and casual; though there was a slight bite to it by the end, as if having a guard was not his first choice.

Sango blinked again, and tried not to take too much offense to the question. Unfortunately, she failed. "No. I'm your new guard. Got a problem with that?"

* * *

 **A/N:** OH SNAP. I figured the modern day equivalent of "have my babies" would have to be cheesy pickup lines, so here we are (and I do love me some cheesy pick up lines.) I'm still trying to make this as ~realistic as possible, but I've decided that I have creative liberty every now and then. This one was a bit on the shorter side, but these last couple chapters were really just to set the stage, so now the real fun can begin. Thanks for reading everyone!

As always I'd love to hear your feedback.


	4. Follow My Smile

**Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, but I really wish I did so that I could have included Koga in the final battle.**

* * *

 **Follow My Smile**

" _No. I'm your new guard. Got a problem with that?"_

Sango was almost surprised by her own boldness, but she held her ground, and the two stared at each other, almost as if they were sizing each other up. She would have paid to be able to hear what Miroku was thinking.

He was silent for a long moment, before he took a step forward, a wide grin overtaking his features. "Not at all, Tiny. I suppose we should sit down then, huh? Get acquainted."

"Sure, as long as you promise to leave the god awful pick-up lines off the table."

"Alright, but only if you can tell me what else I can do that will get you to smile."

Sango scowled, "Don't push it."

"Are you at least going to tell me your name, or is that classified information?" The slight raise in Miroku's eyebrows told her that he was kidding, but she still felt uneasy.

"Sango."

"You're a woman of many words, Sango."

The pair settled in at the table, sitting across from each other. Miroku leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, while Sango crossed her ankles and placed her forearms and interlocked hands on the table. They stared at each other for a moment, before Sango finally spoke.

"You don't believe that a woman is capable of guarding you." It wasn't a question, more of a statement, though she was a little surprised to see that the accusation genuinely shocked him.

"That's not it at all. In fact, I was just reflecting over how I can't believe my luck that such a beauty is in charge of my safety and protection." Miroku's expression had returned to one of pleasant neutrality. He paused, and then tacked on, "I will say that I am more than capable of protecting myself, but seeing as this agency has deemed it necessary for me to have a guard, I will not refuse your help. In fact, I'd be rather unintelligent to do so."

This surprised her, and the shock must have shown on her face, because Miroku chuckled. "I suppose you have an opinion on that."

"No. Well – yes." In Sango's experience, the ones who were trying to cause ripples were the first to accept help and protection when it was offered, because they knew how much danger they were really putting themselves in. Either this man was stupid – which he didn't strike her as – or there was something really insidious going on.

Miroku was looking at her, waiting patiently for her to continue.

Sango wasn't sure how to voice her opinion into words that wouldn't condemn her, so instead she used his tactic from earlier and switched the topic. "I'm sure that you've been told we'll be sharing a house together?"

"Ah, yes, I have. And might I say, I am certainly not disappointed by this fact either."

She took in a large inhale and resisted the urge to rub at her temples. "I feel like I should warn you that I intend to keep things strictly professional."

"As do I, beautiful, as do I. We're not breaking any decorum if we ask a few questions to get to know each other, though, are we?"

Sango quirked a brow, "You really want to play twenty questions?"

Miroku grinned, "I want to play twenty questions."

The last thing she wanted to do was get to know the man she would eventually end up killing. The more humanized he was, the harder she knew it would be to kill him, even if it were for the greater good. That's why jobs where she could ultimately be detached were the best. There were probably a hundred different things she could have said, each one of them more biting than the other, but instead she leaned back slightly in her chair, shrugging. There was probably no point in refusing, especially since they had time to kill. Kikyo had said that they would be called for when the car was ready to take them to their new residence.

"Alright."

"Alright." Miroku echoed. He was still grinning, and Sango couldn't help but feel like she'd just lost some sort of game she wasn't aware she was playing.

"I'll go first", he leaned forward onto the table, bracing himself on his palms. "What do you do when you're not working?"

"You mean like hobbies? Uh …" Sango couldn't remember the last time she'd actually done something for herself that didn't revolve around her job. "Go to the gym, I guess. I used to read, but I don't have much time anymore." She didn't mind shopping, either, when she got around to it, but that sounded a little shallow, and if nothing else, she wanted him to take her seriously. "What do you do?"

"I'm actually a PhD candidate. Going for a doctorate of philosophy, but I've also spent time studying world religion." Miroku sounded as if he was trying not to brag, but he did sound proud of himself. "Favourite movie?"

In all honesty, Sango was a little impressed, but she tried not to let it show. She could tell, by his smirk, that she wasn't successful, and made a mental note to work on masking her emotions better. "I don't have a favourite movie."

"What? Everyone has a favourite movie."

"I don't watch movies, I don't have time." Sango sighed; he still looked like he was waiting for an answer, so she said the first one that came to her mind, "Alright I guess – I don't know, The Sound of Music. Yours?"

Miroku chuckled, "I wouldn't have taken you for a musical lover. American Hustle."

Sango hadn't seen it, but he must have mistaken her indifference for judgment because he held up his hands in mock defense, "Alright, alright. You caught me. It's Marley and Me."

"The dog movie?" Sango chuckled against her better judgment. She reminded herself that she had a job to do, and she needed to get in then out as quickly and silently as possible; and she found herself willing the universe or whatever force was out there to send Kikyo back to them to break up the inquisition.

Miroku winked at her, and then was silent for another moment. "What's your favourite memory?"

Sango gaped at him for a moment, in her mind he had very quickly crossed the line to entirely too personal and she wasn't sure she wanted to answer. Her best memory was a relatively mundane one, but for her birthday a few years ago, before her father had gotten sick, they had spent the day together with Kohaku as a family, forgetting about work and pretending to be tourists in their own city. She wasn't sure if they ever would have a day like that again.

Thankfully, her prayers came answered, and a knock on the door saved her from having to answer. Quite honestly, she had no interest in hearing about his favourite memory, either.

Miroku was watching her carefully, and Sango shifted uncomfortably. It still felt like he was sizing up her every move, though she couldn't tell if he was merely curious and she was being overly paranoid, or if he actually suspected she was a threat to him.

The door opened, though neither of them took their eyes off of each other until Kikyo spoke. "I see you two have gotten acquainted. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to where the car is waiting. Everything you should need is at the house, but should you feel the need to venture out, make sure that you take the necessary precautions."

Sango waited until Miroku stood up to do so herself, and the pair followed behind Kikyo in silence, down a hallway that Sango was sure she'd never seen before. The silence stretched on for such a period of time that none of them seemed to want to break it, and Sango found herself wondering bitterly where Mr. Talkative and Charming had disappeared to.

Finally, after a long walk in silence, where Sango found herself wondering more than once what Miroku was thinking, the trio found themselves in an ordinary looking lobby. There were two people sitting down; a pretty but young looking girl with long, dark hair, and, Sango was a little taken aback, the same man with the golden eyes she'd run into earlier. He still had the bandana over his head, which confirmed her suspicions that he must have lost a bet.

"Miroku, Sango. Meet InuYasha and Kagome, they'll be your housemates for the next while."

InuYasha gave a halfhearted wave to the pair of them, but Kagome jumped up and made an overexcited show of shaking both of their hands, introducing herself excitedly and chattering away.

"We're going to have a good time, aren't we? Well, besides the 'people want to kill us' part, but I trust everyone, I think that InuYasha and Sango will be able to keep us safe, and then the threat will be taken care of, and everything will end up just fine! Thank you so much for giving up your free time to come and look after us! I hope you don't feel like a babysitter. I mean, not that Miroku and I are babies or anything, we won't give you any trouble, will we Miroku? I mean…"

Sango shot her a smile and then tuned her out, now really curious as to what kind of a threat this girl posed to the political balance of the country, and she made a mental note to research what she could into Naraku's agency, and this one. Right after she called Kohaku to explain this mess to him.

"Sango?" Miroku touched her arm, snapping her out of her reverie and she nearly jumped right out of her skin, immediately pulling her arm away as if she'd been zapped. He held up his hands, and she couldn't tell if he were amused or confused. Or possibly a mixture of both.

"The car is here."

She took a deep breath, nodded, and followed the rest of their party out of the building and into the car that was to take them to their new home. A new home she was about to share with three strangers, and as far as she'd been told, at least one of them was a threat to the collective security of the entire country.

If there was anything she was certain of, it was that everything was about to change.

Sango put her head against the glass window and tried to fight the urge to be sick.

* * *

It had been a few hours, and Sango was still in awe with how beautiful their new house was. The sick feeling of unease hadn't quite passed, but if nothing else, she could admire the beauty of their new home.

The first thing she had done the very second she had a moment alone was call Kohaku and let him know what was going on. He didn't seem too bothered, and she wondered if that made her feel better or worse about the entire situation. After a short conversation, she decided to ask him not to tell their father, as she didn't want to worry him. Kohaku understood, and promised not to tell Takumi, so long as Sango promised to take care of herself. He was old enough to take care of _himself_ , but Sango still felt as if she were abandoning him.

The house wasn't overly large on the outside, though it was beautiful on the inside. They each had a bedroom, two bathrooms to share between the four of them, a kitchen, a sitting room, and even a well-equipped gym.

Sango decided that she needed to get as acquainted with it as possible, check for all possible exits and scan for anything that struck her as odd, though she hoped that she wouldn't run into any of their housemates as she did her scan. As soon as she could, she needed to go home to grab some of her belongings, but the house seemed well equipped enough to last her for a few days until she could do so.

After a good half hour of her detailed exploring, the last part of the house she needed to check out was the gym downstairs, and thankfully, she hadn't run into any of her housemates, and figured they were all getting settled in as well.

When she opened the door to the basement, she immediately became quiet, and shut the door behind her as quietly as possible, for she heard voices. No – just one voice. A voice that was distinctly male, and gruff.

"Alright, InuYasha. You can do this. It doesn't matter that she's the first person to be under your protection, you still have what it takes to protect her. You passed the same tests and trials as everyone else. They wouldn't have let you out into the world if they didn't think that you were ready."

Sango wasn't sure whether she was amused or alarmed by the monologue, though she almost felt bad for him. She couldn't imagine the stress of actually having to care for another human life.

So concentrated on his voice, she didn't realize that she had taken a step forward, and the floorboard squeaked underneath the weight.

"Oi!" In a flash, InuYasha had rounded the corner, flicked on the lights to the hall, and was scowling at her, arms folded across his chest.

Sango stared at him, raising her eyebrows slightly, more than a little jarred at the open hostility.

"What's the big idea? Sneaking up on me like that, you some kind of creep or somethin'?"

He seemed way angrier than he needed to be, and she folded her arms across her own chest, mirroring him and keeping her stance wide.

"I was coming down to use the gym but I can see it's already occupied. Relax amateur, if you don't want anyone to know this is your first mission, then your secret is safe with me."

InuYasha paled, his voice rising in volume with every word, "Hey! Who are you calling amateur? Bet I've been at this longer than you!"

"Bet you haven't." Sango shot back, and then shook her head, "Look, I didn't come down here to argue with you, especially since we have to work together for the next few months. If you happen to mature in the next few hours, come find me."

"Keh."

Sighing, she turned and raked a hand through her hair in frustration. Sango had just begun to climb the stairs when Kagome appeared at the top of the staircase, and clapped her hands together.

"There you are! I was looking all over for you. Have you seen InuYasha?"

"He's just downstairs."

"Oh, perfect! I was thinking that we should all have a roommate dinner tonight, you know, to get to know each other, since we're all going to be living in the same house for the next little while. What do you think?"

That was the last thing she wanted to do, but for appearances sake, she nodded. "Sure. Sounds great."

What could go wrong at a simple dinner?

* * *

 **A/N:** Will Sango ever feel comfortable around her housemates? Will she ever see Miroku as anything other than the enemy? And what about Naraku, you know he's up to something somewhere...

Alright, another chapter! I feel like Sango is a little more abrasive than she is in canon, but I also feel like modern Sango would be sassier, especially around people she believes to be the enemy, so here we have it. I love me some Mirsan banter, so I apologize for the large amount of banter that'll be in this fic.

Thanks again so much to everyone for their support and feedback (special shout out to the anon I got about this fic on Tumblr) and thanks for reading!


	5. Change of Heart

**Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, I'm just borrowing the characters but I promise that I'll put them back when I'm done.**

* * *

 **Change of Heart**

Sango found it difficult to concentrate on eating when she was trying to ignore the awkward silence that had encompassed the four of them like a thick, smothering blanket; all the while keep an eye on them all, without looking like she was doing exactly that.

Kagome had chattered away happily for the first while, and then she and Miroku had engaged in conversation while trying to include InuYasha and Sango, though neither had really shown any interest in piping in. At least Sango had attempted to be polite; InuYasha seemed to be sulking from their earlier encounter, and she couldn't force herself to relax, and stop herself from feeling like at any moment someone was going to stab her in the back.

InuYasha was also still wearing his bandana, and it was taking all of Sango's willpower not to comment on it.

"Oh, come on, you guys!" Kagome dropped her fork with a loud clatter, throwing up her hands in exasperation after another long bought of silence. "We're supposed to be trying to get to know each other! How can we do that if no one speaks?"

"Sorry", Sango sighed, concentrating on cutting her chicken into bite sized pieces so she had an excuse not to meet Kagome's eyes. The air felt so thick, it was like she could have cut the tension with her knife. Kagome was either oblivious, or she was so determined for them to get along that she was just outright ignoring it.

"Okay … InuYasha. Did you have any other jobs before you became a bodyguard? Or have you been doing this for a long time?"

InuYasha's golden eyes flashed to meet Sango's, and she shrugged up a shoulder at him. Kagome missed the exchange, but she felt another pair of eyes burning into the side of her head, and she turned to catch Miroku's gaze, averting her eyes as quickly as she had turned to look at him.

"Keh. I've been doing this for a long time." InuYasha grunted, and then busied himself by taking a bite of his chicken so large that he had to keep his mouth slightly open to chew it.

Kagome wrinkled her nose and turned away, back to Sango. "What about you, Sango?"

Her eyes were kind, and they were leading Sango to believe that she really had no ulterior motives, but she was determined not to be lulled into a false sense of security. "I've been doing my job for a long time too."

It wasn't a lie … technically.

After a few seconds, she felt a little rude not reciprocating the question, and asked, "What is it that you do? Did you tell us already?"

"I'm still in school, I feel like it's taking forever! But I guess that's my fault for choosing double honors in English and History."

"What made you choose to do both?" Miroku piped in.

"Honestly? I couldn't pick which one I liked the best." Kagome chuckled, and shrugged. "It's okay, I don't mind it. I actually kind of like school! As long as it's not math. Besides, I'm getting a bit of a break now while we're in the house, so I guess I can't really complain. Hey, you said you were studying world religion and philosophy, right Miroku? That's really neat. I love the religious facets of history, it's also so interesting. Until … you know, it turns violent."

Sango felt the corner of her mouth twitch up into a smile, and she found herself, not for the first time that day, really doubting the fact that this girl was some sort of radical political mastermind. Which was making her head hurt – why would she need protection otherwise? Making a mental note to try to do some more research into the organization that she'd been hired by, she pushed the food around on her plate. She needed to stop over analyzing every single thing; otherwise she was going to seriously drive herself crazy.

They all fell back into silence again, except for InuYasha's loud chewing, and the scrape of cutlery against their plates. Sango fell into a daydream about eating ice cream in her own bed, back at home, in her pajamas with her cat, Kirara snuggled up against her legs.

"You said your name was Miyamoto, right?" InuYasha asked suddenly, his intense gaze focused on Miroku, who swallowed his food and nodded.

"That's right. Why?"

"Your parents are loaded, ain't they? No wonder we got such a good house."

"InuYasha!" Kagome scolded him for his lack of tact, and his sudden jump made Sango wonder if Kagome had kicked him under the table.

"I don't believe my parents had anything to do with this." Miroku replied evenly, calmly taking a sip of water from his glass. "In any case, even if their influence had, shouldn't you be happy about it, instead of taking out whatever aggression you're feeling on me? What brought this on, anyway?"

InuYasha shrugged, dropping his cutlery and leaning back into his chair. "Figures someone with boat loads of money would waste time getting a useless degree."

Sango snorted, and immediately clapped her hand over her mouth as three pairs of eyes turned to her, Miroku and Kagome in shock, InuYasha in what she was going to assume was amusement.

It wasn't that she had thought InuYasha's comment was necessarily funny – if anything, it was ironic seeing as how she had essentially wasted _her_ money on a useless degree – but it had been so brash it had caught her off guard.

A few seconds too late, she cleared her throat, but Miroku and InuYasha were already staring back at each other.

Kagome, sensing the tension pushed her chair back, and stood up. "Who wants dessert? I found ice cream in the freezer when I was making the-"

"There's no reason to be so unnecessarily rude, InuYasha." Miroku reprimanded, his tone still decidedly neutral, but Sango noticed that he was clutching the side of the table with his right hand.

"Feh." InuYasha seemed to have no better answer, and so he stood up, hastily knocking over his chair in the process, and strode out of the room.

Kagome sighed, sinking back into her chair. "I'm sorry – I thought we would all try to make an effort to get along if we're going to have to live together for the next … you know, few months. I really don't know why he's being so abrasive …" It was clearly bothering her, and Sango was instantly curious as to what kind of encounter she'd had with him. He was supposed to be her bodyguard, after all.

"There's no need for you to apologize, Kagome. Thank you for the wonderful dinner." Miroku smiled warmly at her, nodded to Sango, and then followed suit, sweeping out of the room.

Sango sighed, resisting the urge to slam her forehead into the table. "I guess we get to do the dishes."

* * *

It must have been a true mark to how much of a people person Kagome was, because over the course of clearing the table and washing up the dishes, she had gotten two smiles out of Sango, and even a genuine chuckle.

After everything was tidied up, Kagome excused herself to go see about talking some sense into InuYasha, a feat that Sango figured would be easier said than done. She had just put on a pot of tea to boil so she could retreat to her room for the night, when she heard a loud thump outside, and immediately her heart started hammering in her chest.

It was a weird line to straddle. How long was she supposed to keep this protection act up? She was being paid to protect this stranger, but she was also being paid to _kill_ this stranger.

Whatever it was, she reacted to the danger in the most instinctual way that she knew how.

Maybe it was the fact that she'd been so on guard for the entirety of the day that her senses had gone into overdrive. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't been able to fully relax since she'd struck up the bargain with Naraku. Or maybe, the past ten years of assassinations had finally caused her to crack. Whatever the case, all reason, logic, and everything else she'd been taught flew completely out the window, and she reacted instinctively, though perhaps irrationally; pulling the knife from the holster underneath her skirt, knocking over the mug she had set out on the counter in her haste. It smashed to the floor and shattered into bits, but Sango was already halfway out the door, knife flicked open, eyes surveying through the darkness to pick up the potential threat.

When she finally realized what had caused the noise, she exhaled deeply in frustration and relief, and slumped against the door frame.

It was a raccoon.

Sango pressed her palms over her eyes, breathing in deeply to attempt to slow down her heart. She was so tightly wound that she had just been about to stab a small animal for making a noise outside.

The creature was staring at her, and she sighed.

"Oh – shoo! Scram!"

When she turned around and closed the door, Sango wasn't entirely surprised to see InuYasha standing in the middle of the kitchen, leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. She nodded in his direction, and then began her hunt for a broom so she could sweep up the shattered china that had scattered all over the floor.

"I heard you break the mug."

Sango turned around to stare at him. "Good for you."

"I thought there might have been a threat."

"No threat, just a raccoon. Did Kagome catch up with you?"

"Feh. Yeah."

Sango expected him to elaborate, and when he didn't, was silent for a moment as she continued searching for the broom and dustpan, but then she decided to voice her thoughts aloud. "Word of advice, InuYasha. Acting like a standoffish jerk doesn't make you seem any less nervous. In fact, it kind of calls attention to the fact that you're nervous."

InuYasha scoffed and turned away from her. "Who asked you, anyway?"

She only very narrowly resisted the urge to throw something at him. "Be careful, don't step in the glass."

InuYasha grunted, and Sango did her best to ignore him as she found the broom, and swept up the mess.

He was silent for so long that she thought he'd left, but when she looked up, he had turned back to face her, and was rubbing the back of his neck. "Look – I'm going to do my best. I don't want you to think that I can't do my job just because this is my first assignment."

Sango bit her lip and leaned the broom against the counter. "I don't think that. I'm sure you're capable."

She thought she saw the flicker of a smile ghost across his face, but then he turned serious. "If you ever need someone to spot you on the gym equipment or just want to train with someone in general … let me know." Apparently, he thought that was too nice, and then tacked on, "You know, only because I want to see what you're made of. I have to make sure you're not going to let us down or nothing."

Despite herself, she smiled. She took the offer as, quite literally, some sort of peace offering. He may have been a bit of an ass, and he may have technically been the enemy, but there was something about him that made her feel a little less on edge. She couldn't explain it, and decided to just go with it. "Same goes to you. We'll keep them safe."

At least for now.

"Right." InuYasha looked slightly embarrassed, and he quickly turned around, waving a hand lazily over his head. "See ya tomorrow."

Rolling her eyes, the brunette disposed of the glass, decided she wasn't really in the mood for tea after all, and made sure all the doors were secured and locked before she headed to her room, upstairs, glad to finally be able to retreat to her own space.

Of course, the universe wasn't finished taunting her yet, and she ran into Miroku in the hallway as he was coming out of the bathroom. His face lit up, and Sango groaned.

"Sango, what a pleasant surprise!"

"We _live together_ , please tell me you're not going to drop some cheesy line every time we bump into each other in the hall."

"I wouldn't dream of it, oh guard of mine."

"Goodnight, Miroku."

"Goodnight, beautiful." He moved out of the way so she could slip past him, and into the bathroom, and then called after her, "I'll leave my door unlocked. If you need anything in the night, anything at all, come and get me. And I really mean anything."

Sango made a guttural noise of disgust in the back of her throat, "Not even if pigs were flying."

When she was finally in the solace of her room, she sat down on the bed and let out a deep breath. She didn't even have any clothes that were her own, and was happy to find that there was at least a pair of flannel pajamas in one of the drawers. They were about two sizes too big, but after rolling up the arms and the legs, they were comfortable enough for sleep.

After further inspection, she found that there were more clothes laid out for her, but they all looked too big, and quite frankly, didn't fit her tastes at all.

"You're doing this for Dad, you are doing this for Kohaku", she reminded herself under her breath, wondering how her father was doing, and wondering, with a sinking feeling, when the next time she got to see him would be.

It made her a little uncomfortable that the only belongings she had were her clothes, and the tiny arsenal she pretty much had on her at all times, but it wasn't as if she were confined to the house. Miroku would probably want to go to his house to get some clothes too; they could make a field trip out of it. If only he came with some sort of a mute button.

As exhausted as she was feeling, as soon as she climbed into the large bed, she felt like every sense in her body was on overdrive.

Climbing back out of the bed, Sango pulled the chair from the desk in front of the door, shimmying it under the handle so that it would at least slow someone down if they decided to come into her room unannounced.

After another few minutes of lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, she climbed out again and grabbed the handgun that she had placed in one of the drawers before putting her pajamas on. Triple checking that the safety was on; she placed it on the bedside table, close enough to be within reach if she needed to grab it in a hurry.

Even so, Sango didn't sleep a wink all night.

* * *

 **A/N:** I mean, I'm honestly such a sucker for the InuSan bromance. Those two idiots write themselves.

I honestly can't say it enough, but thanks so much to everyone who reads, reviews, favourites, or alerts! All of those things bring a smile to my face, I'm so glad you're all enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback!

Also, if anyone wants to come and freak out about me with InuYasha or anything else, I am on tumblr at princess-kagura . tumblr . com, so come say hello!


	6. Two Can Keep a Secret

**Disclaimer:** I don't own InuYasha, because if I did I would update more regularly ….

Also, before I start I'm going to go ahead and dedicate this chapter to my beautiful best friend, Angie (aka Mirsan . com) for essentially being the one to encourage me to even start this fic (almost a year ago now omg!) and of course for commissioning beautiful art that kept me motivated, that is now the cover art! (And a million thanks to evartandadam on Tumblr for doing such a beautiful job!)

* * *

 **Two Can Keep a Secret**

"You look like shit."

Sango glared at InuYasha, even though she knew his proclamation was right. Apparently their precarious truce wasn't going to stop him from being blunt as hell. She had gotten up early to avoid running into anyone, but still had managed to bump into him in the hall. Though, much to her chagrin, she found she was happier running into him than Miroku.

"Yeah well, not getting any sleep will do that to you", she snapped, storming past him into the bathroom so she could brush her teeth and wash her face, in a futile attempt to make herself feel more awake.

It was only day two. She was going to need coffee, and lots of it.

When she made her way down to the kitchen to make some, she was once again surprised that both Kagome and Miroku were up. Kagome was still in her oversized pajamas, but Miroku was fully dressed. The two seemed engrossed in conversation even though someone had turned the morning news on, and it was humming lowly in the background.

Suddenly, the toaster popped, and Miroku caught it. Standing in the doorway, Sango almost felt like she was watching some sort of twisted sitcom. Of course she had to get put in a household of early risers when she wanted a moment to herself.

She cleared her throat. "Morning."

"Good morning!" Kagome chirped, pushing the butter across the island. "Did you sleep well?"

"Uh – yeah." Sango lied, awkwardly avoiding Miroku's gaze so she could grab herself a cup of coffee.

"Do you want breakfast? I was going to try to make some eggs. I've never made omelets or anything too fancy, but I can make pretty good scrambled eggs, if I do say so myself."

"I'm fine with my coffee, thanks."

"But – breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" Kagome put two pieces of bread in the toaster, "At least have some toast to go along with the coffee!"

"I – okay." There was clearly no point in arguing. Defeated, Sango grabbed her mug and sat down at the island, focusing on the news for something to do.

After Kagome placed the toast down in front of Sango, she clasped her hands together. "Alright, time to get dressed! I'll see you two later."

"Goodbye, Kagome", Miroku finally spoke, and Sango turned to him, pushing the plate away from her once Kagome had left.

"So I was thinking." She started, and he grinned.

"Thinking of?"

"I was thinking we could take a field trip. It'll be brutal if we have to stay cooped up in this house all day, every day. Besides, I'm sure you need clothes just as badly as I do, and you can't leave the house without me."

'That's quite thoughtful of you, Tiny."

She scowled. "Or I could leave you here and you can wear whatever poorly sized clothes they've laid out for you."

"While I'm sure I would have no trouble pulling them off, I would much prefer to gather some of my own belongings."

Sango took a sip of her coffee. "Alright. Let me know when you're ready."

"Shouldn't you eat your breakfast? It's the most important meal of the day." She wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure she had detected a sardonic undertone, and was caught between defending Kagome and asking him what he thought about her.

After another, larger sip from her mug, she decided to go with the latter.

"What do you think of our housemates?"

Miroku paused for a moment, thinking about the question, and Sango took the time to inspect her cuticles.

Finally, he spoke, "I think that InuYasha needs to be more mindful of his temper, and I think Kagome is extremely enthusiastic."

"It'll be interesting to see how they get along."

"It will be interesting to see how _we_ get along", Miroku countered, more seriously than normal, the mischievous air usually surrounding him slightly deflated. Sango stared at him. Was he trying to hint that he knew she wasn't what she was pretending to be?

After a moment she looked away, brushing it off, and focused once again on the news. The news anchor was talking about the mayors of two neighboring districts, and how their previously allied mayors were now just trying to keep together the crumbling partnership. Sango knew that one of the mayors was human, and the other was demon, and had a sneaking suspicion that was what the conflict was about, even if the news anchor wasn't stating it outright.

"That's not going to be good for human and demon relations." Miroku muttered, and Sango knit her eyebrows together and stared at her coffee mug, feeling awkward.

The silence stretched on for a few moments more until Sango pushed her stool back and stood up, taking her now empty mug over to the sink. "Shall we go?"

Miroku grinned at her, turning playful once more. "After you, beautiful."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, you have got to stop with the pet names. They're not cute."

"Anything you say, gorgeous."

Sango resisted the urge to smack him.

* * *

When they pulled up to the house Miroku had been directing her to, Sango felt her jaw drop. They were sitting at the curb of one of the largest houses she'd ever seen in her life, and all of a sudden, InuYasha's snide remarks about money the night prior made sense.

She turned to him, eyebrows raised, and he shrugged, looking as though he was at war with himself about how to answer her silent question. "This home belongs to my adoptive parents."

"Your – your adoptive parents? What happened to your real parents?"

There was an awkward pause, and Sango flushed, regretting her lack of tact.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's quite alright. I suppose Kagome was correct in that we need to share some personal information if we're going to trust each other, hmm?"

Sango avoided his gaze guiltily. There probably wasn't a lot he could say that would make her trust him, not after what she'd been told about him by Naraku, and she could have kicked herself for giving him an opening to get even more personal with her.

"I was adopted when I was twelve. Mr. and Mrs. Miyamoto were kind enough to take me in."

Miroku stopped speaking when Sango held up her hand. "I really don't need to know all of this. I have my job to do; you have yours, which is to not get killed. There's no reason this needs to be anything more than that. Go grab some clothes, I'm going to do a check of the perimeter and expect you'll be back here in five minutes."

He stared at her for a moment, before he smiled, a light smile, but one that didn't reach his eyes. "As you wish, guard of mine."

Sango felt a twitch of guilt, but she had to keep reminding herself not to get attached. It would just make the ultimate job easier in the end; he was just another villain she had to take out. A personable and charismatic villain, but weren't all the best ones at least a little charming?

Shaking her head, she wrung out her hands and did a check around the house, noting with a snort that at least she would be able to protect him from any assassins because she knew how their minds worked.

He came back with his bag packed in record time, and the drive to collect her things was just as uneventful, although she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed about her own home in comparison to his. Even though, she reminded herself, she was there to take him out, not to impress him.

Sango caught his eyes on her, and tried not to blush, putting her effort in to sounding a little harsher than normal. "What?"

"Nothing, Sango. Nothing at all."

She had to drag him into her house with her, because she didn't feel it would be very guard-like of her to leave him sitting alone in the car, and instructed him to wait at the front door while she grabbed some of her own things.

Halfway down the hall of their seemingly abandoned house, her cell phone started to bleep and she answered it in hushed tones, worried it might have been Naraku.

"Yes?"

"Sango?"

Instead of the snide voice she had been expecting, it was her little brother, Kohaku's kind voice that answered.

"Kohaku! Oh I was hoping you would be here. I'm just at the house picking up some clothes. I meant to call you last night but things got a little – out of hand."

"What's going on?"

"Do you remember that assignment I took?" Sango turned into her room, closing the door behind her and speaking in a hushed tone. "Well, it turns out it pays really well, but it's more of a 24/7 thing than we're used to. Do you think that you'll be okay on your own?"

"Sango. I'm eighteen. I'm not a little kid."

Sango chuckled, and grabbed an overnight bag out of her closet. "Fine, let me rephrase. Don't tell Father I've abandoned you for a couple of months."

Kohaku laughed, "Is it anything I can help you with?"

She blew out a breath and started grabbing clothes from her drawers, chucking random items into her bag without really looking at them. "No, it's something I have to do on my own. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Sango. I'll be fine. It really isn't me you should be worrying about."

There was a hint of worry in his tone, and Sango said warningly, "Kohaku…"

"You should really visit Father."

"Has anything changed?!"

"No, not really. He's the same. I'm just – worried about him."

Something in her snapped. All the stress and worry and anxiety she'd felt over the past 36 hours all came rushing out of her in a wave of anger. "Well so am I, okay? You don't really think that I'd rather be on my guard 24/7 and having to work than being able to be there with him, do you? Because I'll have to remind you that hospital bills aren't cheap, and we're up to our eyeballs in debt." She hissed.

Kohaku sighed. "I'm not saying any of that, Sango. I know you're doing what you have to. Just don't forget about visiting him, okay?"

She immediately felt a twinge of guilt for snapping at him, but he had called out everything she was worried about – besides being found out as a double agent. If that were to happen, then she really couldn't help support her family.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I love you, Kohaku. I'll call you when I can, okay?"

"You too."

"Don't forget to feed Kirara."

"Don't nag me."

Remembering Miroku was standing at her front door waiting for her, Sango tossed a few more things into her bag, and then opened up her door, making her way back down the hall.

Her guardee was standing where she had left him, smiling good naturedly. "I couldn't help but overhear."

Sango's heart skipped a beat. "Oh?"

"Was that your boyfriend?" Miroku's tone suggested casual indifference, completely conversational, but there was unmasked curiosity clear across all of his features.

"No, it was uh – my brother."

"Ah", Comprehension flickered across his face, and Sango shifted uncomfortably. She'd let slip more details of her personal life than she had meant to for one day. Opening the door, she ushered him out, shoving her bag over her shoulder.

"We should get back to the house, I don't want InuYasha panicking and sending out a search party."

Miroku nodded, and the pair made their way back to their borrowed car. However, halfway there, and without warning, Miroku turned around to face her. "And Sango?"

Sango barely could register the close proximity in which he was standing to her, because all she could think of was how much taller he was than she. "Yes?"

"I'd prefer it if I could drive back to the house."

Sango thought he was trying to be funny, and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "What? Why?"

"Because you are a horrible driver."

Her jaw dropped for the second time that day, and she followed him to the car, feeling affronted and very unwilling to hand over the keys.

* * *

It had been a strange afternoon. As soon as they had gotten back to their temporary house, Sango had made a beeline to her bedroom so she could have a moment alone with her thoughts. Eventually, Miroku had conned her out of the car keys, and she almost expected him to do something devious, but he had instead taken a beautiful scenic way back, giving her a brief history on each of the different sights.

He was so _annoying_. It was almost as if he were trying to make her like him. The really irritating part was that, as much as she was trying to fight it, she did want to get to know him better. She certainly wouldn't have gone so far as to say she didn't mind having him around, but a small, tiny part of her appreciated that he was trying.

She really wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into.

Sango decided to spend some time in the gym downstairs, at the very least so she could blow off some of the steam she was holding in, and get over the feeling of foreboding that had been following her ever since she had woken up that morning.

She wasn't entirely surprised when she made her way downstairs and found that the gym was already occupied, sensing that this would be part of the daily routine.

"Hey", InuYasha nodded in her general direction, and then continued with his workout.

Sango nodded back to him, giving him the smallest of smiles, and then started stretching. She had half expected him to leave, but it seemed that their mutual agreement from the night prior rang true.

It was strange coming to terms with the fact that she was living with three strangers, when she had been used to living with her father and brother, but she needed to keep reminding herself to keep her eye on the prize. Besides, there was something about him that, while she couldn't say she felt completely at ease, made her feel a little less nervous and jumpy than their other housemates did.

He seemed to know what he was doing. His technique was fine, he moved quickly, and he appeared to be quite strong. She just still couldn't get over his stupid bandana.

Sango didn't realize she had been staring at him until he turned around and scoffed.

"Do you need something?"

Clearing her throat, she shook her head, muttered something incoherent under her breath, and then turned to continue her stretching. She could feel his eyes burning holes into her back, but she determinedly decided to not turn around, and after a moment, the loud thump of fist meeting dense material of a punching bag filled the gym once more.

A while later, once she had gone through all her reps, Sango was sweating and felt a lot less anxious than she did when she started.

InuYasha had stuck around the entire time she was there, but although she was panting and sweating from the exertion, he barely seemed winded. She had been sneaking peeks wherever she could, and he didn't seem to be working at half capacity, he was going all out. It struck her as odd that someone could have that much stamina, but she decided not to think too much of it.

Until, of course, InuYasha started putting equipment away. As he leaned forward to put the punching bag back onto one of the racks, his bandana was pushed slightly off his head, and when he stood up, it was ajar.

Just ajar enough for Sango to see a dog ear poking upright on the right side of his head.

InuYasha moved quickly to adjust it, but the damage had already been done. Sango had already seen.

They stared at each other for a millisecond before Sango screeched, "You're a half dem-?!"

The rest of the sentence became muffled as he had leapt forward, and smacked his hand across her mouth. Her internal alarm started going off, he was invading every inch of her personal space, and it took every ounce of self-control Sango had to not kill him on the spot.

The pair stared at each other for a millisecond more before Sango placed her hands squarely on his chest and pushed him backwards roughly.

"You're a half demon?" She hissed quietly. Sango had never known herself to be prejudiced in her life; it didn't normally matter whether someone was demon, or half demon, or human, she would treat them with what they brought to the table. But believing that someone was masquerading as human didn't sit right with her. It had come as a shock, more than anything, and she glared at him, daring him to try to lie.

InuYasha looked like he was warring with himself about what to tell her, and Sango folded her arms across her chest, eyebrows raised expectantly.

After a moment, he clearly decided to go with the defensive approach, and sneered, "What was I supposed to do, tell you all that I'm a half demon so you can all run out screaming and Kagome can request a new guard? I had to fight for this position; I'm not going to throw it away based on something I can't control."

"Okay but-"

InuYasha barreled on, "Do you know how difficult it is being a half demon in this world? Humans don't accept you, and demons don't accept you. You're in this fucked up middle ground, where no one wants you to be associated with them. It's like…"

"Being the ultimate outsider." Sango sighed, trying to make sense of it all. "So the only reason you lied was because you didn't want people's prejudice getting ahead of your ability to do the job?"

InuYasha scoffed, "Keh. By the way, you've smelled of guilt from the moment you walked into this house. What are you hiding?"

Sango stared at him, unsure what he expected her to say. Her mind was reeling, everything was confusing and nothing was falling into place.

The pair was awkwardly silent, avoiding meeting each other's eyes for a few awkward moments before Sango sighed.

"Look, I'm not saying that I trust you, but I won't tell Miroku and Kagome your secret. Now that's two of them I'm keeping for you, I hope you're seeing the pattern here."

InuYasha grunted.

"Okay, now you're supposed to say something like, 'Thanks Sango, I'm sorry for accusing you of being guilty when you're not'".

The half demon grunted again, re-tying the bandana on his head to make sure it wouldn't slide around again.

Rolling her eyes, Sango turned around to head towards the door, but InuYasha sighed.

"Sango? Thanks."

She paused, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips, but she didn't turn around, and made her way out of the gym and up the stairs to her room. She didn't bother with a shower, but instead made a beeline for her bedroom, and collapsed on the bed.

What Sango didn't understand was why a group of demon supremacists would have a half dog-demon protecting a bubbly human girl. Miroku, she could kind of see as a villain, more than likely because he had been painted to her that way, but InuYasha and Kagome, she couldn't wrap her head around it.

Sango made it her goal to do something she should have done from the get go – start doing some research into the so called agency she was working for.

It made her uneasy that to know that she wasn't the only one in the house that was harboring a secret.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, first of all, I'm so sorry for the wait for this chapter, and if you've stuck around this long, a million thank yous! I can't tell you enough how much you all mean to me.

I promise, promise, promise things are going to start becoming clearer really soon. We're getting right into the action now; I was really excited for the ending InuSan scene, so hopefully you guys enjoyed it too! I just wanted a bit of a slow build to really build up the characters and the plot before the action started, but it's kind of a snowball effect now. I also hope I'm getting the early day Mirsan banter down. Please let me know what you think, and thank you again for reading! You're all beyond amazing.


	7. Locked and Loaded

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha, please don't sue me, I just graduated University and I have like, twenty dollars to my name.

* * *

 **Locked and Loaded**

Sango huffed as she tapped her fingernails on the island counter, and they made an extremely satisfying click against the granite. It had been two weeks since she and her three roommates had moved into their house, and they were all going a little bit stir crazy. It almost felt like they had put more of a target on their backs, all being in the same house together, but until Kagome and Miroku were cleared, they were all stuck together.

Kagome was chipper and cheerful as usual, every time Sango ran into her in the kitchen or the hall, the tiny brunette cornered her into talking about how she was feeling. Kagome was consistently bringing Sango tea whenever she holed herself up in her room, and as shocking as it had been at first, Sango found it oddly touching. She hadn't been taken care of in such a way since her mother was aive.

Then, of course, came the question about how she was going to kill Miroku. It wasn't as if she had experience with anything other than removed killings of beings who, quite frankly, deserved some form of justice. Other than being infuriatingly flirty, Miroku had done nothing over the past two weeks to indicate that he deserved death. Not to mention, how in the world was she supposed to make it seem like she had nothing to do with it?

Sango was trying her hardest to keep him at an arm's length, to keep distance between them so she wouldn't keep getting to know him, and she wouldn't have the guilt weighing on her for the rest of her life.

But something told her that, already, this was going to be the hardest job she'd had so far.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she stared at her computer, biting her thumbnail. It seemed a little strange to her that she hadn't heard of either organization she was working for, and she supposed it was high time that she did a little bit of digging, something that she probably should have done weeks ago.

Putting both 'The Agency' and 'The Coalition' into the search engine left her with little results. She tried Naraku's name, Kikyo's name, and as many different variations of 'Demons vs. Humans' that she could possibly think of.

Until, finally, she decided to type Miroku's name into the search engine.

Heart thumping erratically, Sango peered over her shoulder to make sure that she was alone, and then typed **MIROKU MIYAMOTO** into her browser.

It seemed as if everything he said at Kagome's welcome dinner had been true, and it seemed that he was more famous than she originally realized. As soon as she typed in his name, articles in tabloids and the society pages started popping up, accompanied with a collage of photos of Miroku looking dangerously handsome in different suits.

Sango leaned in a little closer to her screen, and was thoroughly surprised when someone cleared their throat behind her.

Cursing herself for letting her guard down, she jumped out of her skin, slamming her laptop shut and turning around.

"Good morning, love."

Feeling herself flush, Sango raised her eyebrows in an attempt to look somewhat threatening, holding eye contact with the man that she had just been searching on the internet. "I assume you need something."

Miroku clutched at his chest dramatically. "You have such little faith in me, gorgeous."

"What is it?"

Sighing, as he sank into the chair beside Sango, Miroku folded his hands neatly and placed them on the countertop. "I was hoping we could take an outing. I'm beginning to feel rather … claustrophobic."

Sango nodded as she mulled over his request. At least she could leave if she needed to – and she had, to visit her father a few times. Miroku was more or less stuck, as it wasn't safe for him to leave without an escort. Despite her wariness of him, and the fact that she was literally planning his death, she felt a tiny bit sorry for him.

In her opinion, death was better than being imprisoned.

"Fine. What do you want to do?"

"I'd be happy to do anything, Tiny. I'd revel at the chance to stretch my legs."

After a few moments of debating, they decided to have a picnic in the park. It was unassuming, casual, and if they needed any sort of cover, they could pretend they were two lovers having a romantic day out.

The cover story was Miroku's idea, of course, but even Sango had to admit that his eye for strategy was both impressive and alarming.

She was certain that he knew more than he was letting on.

Picnic basket in tow and after being turned down by Kagome, who had homework to do, and subsequently InuYasha, the pair found themselves in the closest park to their little house, one that was typically only frequented by humans.

It wasn't that there was enforced segregation, necessarily, but demons tended to stick with demons, and humans stayed by humans.

Half demons, were another story, and Sango felt an immediate pang of sympathy for InuYasha. It must have been really tough growing up in the middle, not fully accepted by either species.

Sango was on wide alert, tapping her fingernails on the edge of her plastic cup, glancing over her shoulder and scanning the area behind them. Miroku seemed relaxed and well at ease, though that didn't soothe her any.

"At this rate, your shoulders are going to be permanently attached to your ears, gorgeous", Miroku leaned lazily onto his side, stretching out across the picnic blanket. "Aren't you happy to be out of the house?"

"Yes", she spat through gritted teeth, irked once again by his bothersome nicknames. Though, she was certain he did it to get a reaction from her at this point. "But there's more danger outside of the house, and I don't have InuYasha to cover my back."

"You trust InuYasha?" Miroku seemed slightly shocked by this information, and Sango shrugged.

"I do".

And she did. For the most part. He had been honest with her about his identity, and though she hadn't been honest with him about hers, the two had settled into an easy and unspoken partnership to protect their charges. Sango knew she could trust him with her back if the need arose.

Which was horribly confusing, all things considered.

Miroku fell silent, watching her with knowing eyes, and then shrugged up a shoulder, reaching into this picnic basket to pull out a novel.

Sango would have loved to relax and read in the park, but she was too much on edge to be able to focus any.

After a while, Miroku fell asleep, and he dozed on and off while the sun was high in the sky. It was a beautiful day, and the park was full of families with young children, couples stealing romantic moments, and people enjoying their lives. Sango desperately wished that she could be one of them; she desperately wished that she was in the park with her friends, able to pursue her dreams of grad school and not be worrying about crippling debt, and what was going to happen to her family if her father didn't pull through. The guilt was starting to kick in about not spending as much time with her hospitalized father as she should have been, but hopefully the mission would be over soon, and she could make up for it by paying his bills.

Hours had passed, and Sango nudged Miroku with her foot. She was starting to get a little sleepy herself, and figured it was high time they headed back to the house she refused to think of as her home.

"What time is it?" Miroku snapped to alertness annoyingly quick, and Sango checked her watch.

"It's 6:30, I think we should probably pack up and start heading."

"Yes, alright." With one last longing look towards the center of the park, Miroku stood up and offered his hand to Sango, which she pointedly ignored.

"I suppose you could have used a nap too, eh Tiny?"

Ouch. Sango let that one roll off her back and started packing the blanket up, stuffing it in the picnic basket. She was just about to turn to Miroku and ask him if he was ready to go when a loud, shrill shriek pierced the air.

"Somebody, help!"

Without thinking, Sango burst into action, dropping the picnic basket, and whipping out of sight before it could even hit the ground. To her surprise, Miroku was right behind her, and adrenaline was pumping through her so fast she didn't even think to tell him to wait behind. It was probably better if he was in her sight, anyways.

It didn't take the pair of them very long to get to the center of the action. A small crowd had formed a circle around a group of people, and Sango pushed herself to the center, Miroku hot on her heels.

A quick scan told her most of what she needed to know.

Three bird demons were standing in the center of the crowd, one holding what looked to be a wailing human child, and two women were standing opposite them, one of the women hysterical to the point of tears.

"What's going on here?" Sango found herself asking authoritatively, and the demons finally swiveled to look at her.

"This don't concern you, girlie girl", the tallest one sneered, and the demon holding the baby laughed maliciously.

"Give the child back", Miroku demanded in just as clear of a voice as hers, and she looked to him, eyes wide, shaking her head. Without thinking, she moved her arm out, just slightly, so that it was blocking him. The demons picked up on it right away, and started howling with laughter.

"What's this? She thinks she's gon' fight us?"

"Stand back", the assassin said calmly to the two women, and the calmer one dragged the hysterical woman back a few steps until they integrated with the crowd.

Miroku was hovering, and she almost rolled her eyes. Well, if he wanted to get himself killed, it would at least make her job easier. They had a park full of witnesses, and she could say she did all that she could.

"Give the child back", Sango echoed Miroku's earlier command, and the demons continued to howl. Her hand twitched towards her gun holster.

She realized it probably wasn't the best idea to shoot these demons dead in the park, particularly when her name and face were in front of an entire crowd of witnesses, but she would resort to it if she needed to.

"And what are you gon' do if we don't?" The smallest of the three taunted, and Sango propelled herself forwards, leaping up in the air so she could smack a roundhouse kick to the side of his head.

It hit its target with a satisfying crunch, and he leaped back, howling. She came to the conclusion very quickly that these were not particularly strong demons. They would probably be quite easy to take down. Another kick to the stomach, and the demon was on his knees, gasping for breath. She wondered why the one not holding the human child hadn't come at her yet, though she knew that she would have no trouble at all taking on two demons of this strength.

A quick glance over her shoulder completely threw her off her guard, and Miroku had the demon on the ground, foot on his back as he was rendered unconscious.

"What the fuck-" A blow to the back of her skull that made her see stars and jolt forward robbed her of her exclamation, and Sango turned around with a shriek of rage, adrenaline completely erasing the pain she knew that she would feel later.

A punch to the demons jaw, and Sango ducked to avoid a hit from him, keeping her center of gravity low and then she tackled, using her bodyweight to pin him down, pressing his skull to the ground.

"Give back the child", she demanded sharply. "Now."

The remaining demon looked a little sheepishly at his two comrades which were being held on the ground by the two humans.

"Yes ma'am", he whispered, and then with a cackle, tossed the child in the air.

Sango gasped, and the scene turned to slow motion. The mother screamed, and in a flurry of commotion, at least five people moved towards the child.

Miroku, being the closest, leapt toward and caught the child, and the entire audience sighed an audible sigh of relief.

Though, when the demon Miroku had been apprehending jumped up and leapt towards Miroku, Sango was expecting it.

She leapt forward, and in midair, the two collided, landing to the ground and they rolled; wrestling, kicking, biting, fighting dirty to get the upper hand.

Finally, Sango got it and had him apprehended once more.

She was sweating, her hair was coming out of her high ponytail, and her lip was bleeding, but the child was back safely with his mother. Sango stood up, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

The demons looked like they wanted to continue the fight, and quite honestly, now that the child was safe, Sango wasn't interested. She and Miroku needed to get out of sight before they got in the middle of any more trouble.

Whipping her gun out of her thigh holster underneath her skirt, she pointed it at the larger of the two. Someone in their audience screamed, and Sango could feel the tension rising as people stepped back from her.

"Get out of here, before I change my mind about letting you go."

With a look to one another, the demons scrambled out of sight, and Sango sighed, putting her gun back in the holster after checking the lock.

For some reason, the smug look on Miroku's face made her irritated, because she didn't quite understand. Why would he put himself in the line of danger to rescue a human child? It didn't add up, and it was throwing her off.

"I could have handled that myself, you distracted me." Sango snapped, and Miroku's smile fell a bit.

He was terse when he responded. "Let's go home."

* * *

Miroku was recounting the events of their afternoon to a wide eyed Kagome and an apathetic seeming InuYasha while Sango held a tissue to her lip, which was going to scab in a completely irritating way.

"Wow, I'm so glad you two are okay!" Kagome was clutching her heart, eyes wide with concern, and Sango smiled, wincing as it cracked her lip open once more.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry!"

"No, its okay", Sango chuckled. "You don't have to apologize every time you make me chuckle, Kagome."

"Why do I have an inkling that if it were me, you would have snapped at me about splitting your lip open", Miroku commented bitterly, and three pairs of eyes turned to him in shock. He was typically so good at keeping his emotions in check that he was never anything but pleasant.

"Oh…kay … InuYasha I need your … help upstairs." Kagome chirped in a clearly forced cheery voice, grabbing InuYasha by the shoulder so she could start pushing him out of the kitchen.

"What? But I want to see this." He complained, but Kagome continued to push him forwards.

"You can talk to them later. Goodnight!" She called over her shoulder, pushing InuYasha into the hall, who grumbled the whole way out of earshot.

Sango watched them go with her mouth hanging open, and then turned to Miroku, who seemed as if he had gotten himself under control. His words irritated her, though he had every reason to be annoyed with her, which irritated her even more.

"Excuse me for trying to keep some level of professionalism between the two of us. I'm your bodyguard, not your friend."

"Yes well, you've made that perfectly clear, thank you." Miroku snapped tersely, and the two fell silent, glaring at each other.

Pursing her lips together, Sango folded her arms across her chest, "I suppose I should thank you. For your help, then."

"You're welcome."

"I guess I just don't understand … they were human? Why did you want to help them?"

Miroku knit his eyebrows together, "Are you implying that you think so lowly of me that I wouldn't want to help those in need?"

Sango shook her head; the question had mostly been for herself to try to make sense of things. If he was an extremist who wanted demons to be in power, why would he take pity on humans and help to save them? The adrenaline had been pumping too much for her to think about it during the fight, but it had confused her for their entire journey home.

"No. I guess what I meant was … why do you need a guard if you can clearly take care of your own affairs?"

The two questions were wildly different, but Miroku didn't call her out on it, which she was thankful for.

"It wasn't necessarily my first choice, but rather, marketed to me as a necessary precaution, so I thought it best not to argue." Miroku shrugged, and then he snapped back into what Sango was staring to believe was his player façade, though he sounded a lot less genuine than any other time he had complimented her. "And then I laid eyes on you, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, so I really couldn't complain."

Sango huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight, beautiful."

"Goodnight, idiot", she muttered under her breath, but Miroku's chuckle told her that he heard.

And the assassin climbed the stairs to her room, more confused than ever.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes, I am alive! I'm so sorry that this took me so long to get to, I lost my groove a bit with this fic, and action scenes are daunting to me so this was put on the backburner. But fear not, this fic will have an end, even if it takes me five years to do it. I'm too invested now, and the action is finally picking up, so it'll be a lot more fast paced from here on out. Thank you so much for all the support this far, every singe follow, favourite, and review gives me so much life!

Please, drop me a line and let me know what you think!


End file.
